Cliffhanger!

A clump of trees on a hillside was likely what saved a Petoskey man from more serious injury Tuesday when his sport utility vehicle went off the road and rolled partially down a steep embankment.

After spending more than an hour trapped in his 1999 Dodge Durango on the side of the hill, Benjamin Scarff, 40, was transported by Allied EMS to Northern Michigan Hospital where he was treated for injuries he suffered in the crash and released.

According to the Petoskey Department of Public Safety, the accident happened at about 1:21 p.m. on Charlevoix Avenue at the curve across from the Emmet County Fairgrounds.

Petoskey Department of Public Safety Director Mike Vargo said witnesses reported that Scarff was westbound on Charlevoix Avenue when he went off the roadway at the beginning of the curve, struck the end of the guard rail, and flipped end-over-end before rolling down the steep embankment.

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Vargo said it's unknown for certain why Scarff drove off the road, but said he may have had some kind of seizure.

The vehicle came to rest on its wheels in a clump of trees and brush about 30 feet down from the crest of the cliff, with the front of the vehicle facing uphill.

The trees and brush were all that kept the Durango from rolling the rest of the way down the more than 100-foot drop-off. At the bottom of the hill lies an old railroad grade and the shore of Little Traverse Bay.

Vargo, who was just blocks away from the scene when the dispatch went out, was one of the first rescue workers on the scene. Almost immediately, he called for a wrecker to keep the vehicle from rolling or sliding any farther down the embankment.

Vargo said he could feel the vehicle bounce and settle as it rested precariously on 3- and 4-inch diameter trees.

After the vehicle was stabilized, Allied EMS paramedic Jane Poquette climbed in the passenger side door and began treating Scarff, while Petoskey and Resort/Bear Creek firefighters worked to free Scarff from the wreckage.

Vargo stayed with Scarff throughout the ordeal, standing outside the driver's door helping Poquette stabilize Scarff and protect him from the extrication work.

"I think it was fortunate that he didn't have any obvious serious injury that we had to deal with immediately," Vargo said.

Firefighters eventually had to remove the Durango's roof to get Scarff out.

More than an hour after the crash happened a host of firefighters carried Scarff up the hill on a stretcher to the waiting ambulance.

After Scarff was removed and taken to the hospital, Petoskey Towing crews used the company's heavy-haul wrecker to pull the Durango back up the hill and remove it from the scene.

Vargo said Tuesday's wasn't the first vehicle to go over the cliff across from the fairgrounds. He said in his 29 years on the Petoskey force, he remembers three or four other vehicles that have gone over the same cliff - a couple of which made it all the way to the bottom.

Vargo said Scarff was lucky, noting that had his vehicle gone down the hill just 20 feet to the east, it probably would have rolled all the way down because there are far fewer trees.

Vargo said he doesn't expect any citations to be issued stemming from the wreck.